Photos show Cambodian children attend school in floating villages along the Tonle Sap lake

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A student from a floating village steers a school boat on Tonle Sap Lake, Cambodia, Monday, June 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Anton L. Delgado)

Students arrive at a school in a floating village on the Tonle Sap Lake, Cambodia, Tuesday, June 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Anton L. Delgado) — A student from a floating village steers a school boat on Tonle Sap Lake, Cambodia, Monday, June 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Anton L. Delgado)

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9:07 PM on Sunday, August 16

By ANTON L. DELGADO and ANIRUDDHA GHOSAL

KAMPONG PRAHOK, Cambodia (AP) — On Cambodia’s Tonle Sap, the largest freshwater lake in Southeast Asia, getting anywhere has always meant navigating the water. It isn’t any different for schoolchildren.

Most mornings, a gas-powered boat chugs through Kampong Prahok floating village, steered by students often no older than those climbing aboard. They pull up alongside floating homes, as peers in crisp uniforms clamber aboard, careful to keep their backpacks dry.

The Iran war is driving up fuel prices, making it more expensive for students to get to school.

Some children are quitting school and starting to work to help their families make ends meet. Cash-strapped governments in hard-hit Asia also are struggling to fund education initiatives and school meal programs that help keep millions of children in classrooms.

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This is a photo gallery curated by AP photo editors.

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Associated Press reporter Sopheng Cheang contributed to this report.

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